Security staff saved the life of a young man who collapsed bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth in a bar.

Distressed customers and employees in Sam Jacks at The Gate, Newgate Street, Newcastle, saw the 25-year-old student slump to the ground at the second floor level bar.

Quick-thinking doormen with first aid training resuscitated the man for around 15 minutes while an ambulance arrived at the American western saloon themed bar.

He was taken into hospital intensive care and medics continued to revive him. It was initially feared he may have suffered brain damage.

Today, his condition is described as poorly but stable in Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

A management spokesman for the bar which features saloon girls, a dentist's chair, and a bucking bronco bull ride, said: "Staff were concerned for the lad. He had been standing at the bar with two mates when he suddenly collapsed.

"He wasn't drunk and no-one knew what had happened to him at the time. He had been chatting to two of the bar girls."

Customers who saw the man, who is not being identified, on the ground shortly before 10.30pm last Friday, thought he had died.

City centre police were alerted and the area was cordoned off. Management co-operated by evacuating the bar and closing the premises at around 11pm while officers initially treated the bar as a crime scene.

"We even played back CCTV footage to see if anything had happened to him but there was nothing," added the bar spokesman.

"We were all concerned for his condition. We have been trying to find out if he is OK."

Newcastle police confirmed inquiries were carried out at the bar on Friday night after a man in his 20s collapsed unconscious.

A CID spokesman said: "The area was cordoned off and glasses were removed for sample analysis as part a routine procedure. But the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

"It appears the man may have had a medical condition. He is now poorly but stable in hospital."

A 25-year-old woman who witnessed the incident told the Chronicle: "When we went to the bar I stepped over him because I thought he had had a few drinks and passed out.

"One of the bouncers was giving him CPR and said the ambulance had been a while. After this the police came in and cleared the pub. Everybody was out of Sam Jack's by the time I left.

"Two ambulances turned up. I could see people looking in the windows trying to find out what was happening."

The recently opened bar is set out over two floors and is decked out like a saloon in the wild west.

Sam Jack's saloon girls are featured on stage throughout the evening and administer a Sourz drink from a bottle.

"He and his mates had one shot of Sourz at around 8pm. They then moved to the bar and were chatting and had a few other glasses of spirits or mixers," added the bar spokesman.

"His friends were there when he collapsed at about 10.30pm. He wasn't drunk as staff would not have served him in that condition."